The Last of Us: Endure and Unite
by Jodie Matthews
Summary: When Chris and Alex, a father-son pair of Fireflies get captured by Tommy's survivors, they must learn to live alongside them. Ellie has to teach Alex to fit in with the survivors, while Alex just might teach Ellie something a little explicit for a 16-year old. Set a few years after the game in Jackson. Rated M for language and... you'll see. It's my first time, please be gentle.
1. Captured In Jackson

The Last of Us: Endure and Unite

Chapter 1: Captured in Jackson

My father, Chris, and I are Fireflies. We were there at the hospital, stationed to guard the research facility. Dad's friend, Kyle was killed by the one called Joel. A smuggler, an acolyte and relative of a former Firefly called Tommy. Our best sources say they maintain a civilisation in Jackson. With, electricity, too. Amazing for a place out of a zone. Amazing for a place not affiliated with us. We'd been sent to take them out.

We'd failed.

Taking a deep breath, I assessed my surroundings. A shadowy basement that was fashioned into a dungeon of sorts, Dad sitting in a cell of his own nearby. The only source of illumination in the room was a miniscule hole, high in the wall. There were stairs close by, probably leading to an exit. It was too dark to see. Our packs were hanging on a hook underneath the window. If I could just get a bit closer…

All of a sudden the door above the steps flung open and filled the room with light. Squinting, I looked from Dad to the door, expecting to see a Firefly rescue party. But amongst the blinding light the silhouette appeared to be of a young girl, about my age. Dad had recognized her, I could see it in his eyes.

'So you're the one who took out 20-something of ours?' Dad shouted towards the doorway. 'I know you. Ellie, right?'

My eyes had started adjusting, and I could see her tense up at the mention of her name. I could make her out a little better now. Brown hair brought back into a loose ponytail, freckles of an 8-year-old but the features of a 16-year-old. And those eyes… Those green eyes, so calming that I could get lost in them forever…

She'd noticed me staring and shouted down, staring back,

'You gonna say something, or are you gonna stare?'

'I.. I..' I stammered

'I'm here to transfer and escort you to the town.'

'The… the town? I thought we were already-' I managed to say nervously.

'You're in the outskirts, dumbass. Yeah, let's keep some dangerous assassin Fireflies in with the general population! You know what, take a gun, too, we're so nice,' Ellie replied, mockingly. 'Now get yourself together, you make a move to escape, you die.'

'You ain't gonna kill us,' Dad said through gritted teeth. 'You kill us, you're dead. We're high ranking, you stupid bitch. Jesus, I take orders from King Firefly himself.' At the mention of the leader the girl tensed up. 'And I bet you'd just _love_ to know who it is.'

'We… we know,' Ellie said unconvincingly. 'T-t-… Tommy. Just- just get moving.'

And so the girl, my dad and I marched out of the building and through the streets, being faced with pistols, rifles, shotguns and any number of weapons on every corner. It was going to be a long few weeks.


	2. Me, Tommy and The Girls

The Last of Us: Endure and Unite

Chapter 2: Me, Tommy and the girls.

 **Just thought I should clarify, Ellie's POV for this chapter.**

'Ellie,' I heard Joel say from the next room. 'You goin' to check on the 'flies again?'

'Yeah,' I replied with mixed feelings. 'It's a special one today. We're gonna see if they're ready to find a place in the town.'

'You're early. And what do you mean we?'

'You know, me, Tommy and the girls. Sammy and Katie. I'm going to Tommy's first to wait for them, though.' The girls I was referring to had recently moved into the settlement, but had easily found their places alongside Maria in the kitchen and the laundry.

'Tommy, the girls and _I_ ,' Joel corrected. 'Now grab something to eat.'

'Right, right, I forgot,' I replied, grabbing an apple. 'You coming?'

'I can't, I'm going out in the forest. It's been slim pickings lately so I gotta find some good meat.'

'Aww, it'd be great to have you there. Should either of them run.'

'You've got Tommy with you. You'll be fine, baby girl,' Joel said softly, then kissed my forehead. 'See you later tonight.'

'Okay,' I replied, consumed with the sense of security the kiss gave me. 'Bye, Joel.'

Lately I'd had kind of a… what's that fancy word Maria taught me… presentiment. There was just this… feeling – in the back of my mind – that something bad was going to happen soon. I couldn't explain it any better than that, it was just... bad.

I swept those thoughts aside as I walked towards Tommy and Maria's house, thumbs hooked in my belt loops, kicking a rock along the cracked footpath of a street cleared of broken cars (which was rare out here), a street of a town given new life. Sure, Tommy's settlement wasn't perfect, but we had a strong 150 settlers, with new people coming every other month, but bandits, fireflies and infected were keeping our numbers low. We had power, running water (most of the time), a steady supply of food, and a patch of dirt that would one day become a farm. It almost sounds too proud of ourselves to say we were the best-running town outside of a zone.

Maria opened the door for me as I stepped up to the porch of _Casa Del Miller,_ as Tommy jokingly called it.

'Hey, Ellie,' Maria said in a warm, comforting voice. 'Here to gather Tommy?'

'You betcha,' I replied sarcastically 'Can't wait to work with some ex-Fireflies.'

'Hey!' A voice came from inside, the unmistakable southern accent of Joel's brother Tommy. 'You work with me, dontcha?'

'You're different,' I called back. 'These ones are fresh!'

'Come in and sit yourself down,' Maria motioned for me to come inside. 'The girls should be on their way.'

'You're early,' Tommy said, surprised as I sat on the ratty couch, given new life by way of deerskin. 'The girls shouldn't be far.'

'Hopefully not. I hate waiting'

Tommy laughed quietly and made a comment to himself about how he used to be one of those "impatient youngsters" as he went somewhere else in the house to collect his pack. At the same time, I pulled out another copy of _Savage_ _Starlight_ Joel and I had found in our travels, and got lost in the comic book world.

Around an hour later, Sammy and Katie arrived. Sammy, a sass-talking 13-year-old who was almost too pretty for her own good. Silky-smooth dark-brown hair that always seemed to sit just right, no matter the wind. Eyes that just say that she looks up to you, that she wants to be like you. She reminds me of me, back when… back when _she_ was alive .I shouldn't think about her. Too many bad memories. Then there's Katie. A 15-year-old who sometimes speaks her mind, sometimes never speaks at all. Around other people she never completely opens up. Blonde hair that's never long enough to make a ponytail as great as mine. Eyes that are as hard to read as a book in another language. She's a very different person around me, she's carefree, completely open with her feelings and open to ideas as well. The only thing she's not open with is her past. I'll have to get that out of her one day.

These girls were sisters, their mother had been infected when Katie was 10 and Sammy was 8. The clicker that infected their mother also passed it on to the middle child, Anne. That's all the past they ever tell me.

Aside from their cooking and washing duties, they tended to the horses, so naturally I took to them quickly. A smile grew on my face when I heard their voices coming up to the porch, saying something to Maria about 'breakfast not being as good without her' when Maria opened the door for them.

'Ellie!' Sammy near-squealed with delight.

'Sammy!' I met her near-squeal with an ear-to-ear smile and embraced her in her trademark 'best friend hug'.

'Katie,' I called to her. 'You okay?' She hadn't said anything since she'd said hello to Maria. She just shook her head underneath her hood, causing Sammy to whisper in my ear.

'Ellie? It's… it's the anniversary of… Mum and Anne. She's not taking it too well.'

'Ah.' Was all I could manage, although I thought it sounded understanding?

An awkward silence lasted for about 20 seconds until Tommy dropped his pack on the ground, having returned from his escapade into the back of the house.

'Ready to go?' Tommy said, noticing the look of sadness on everyone's faces, completely unaware of the current emotional tension in the room. 'What, did someone die?' Maria shot him a look and pointed to the hallway he had just emerged from. Sheepishly, he walked slowly into another room for Maria to educate him on recent revelations.

Another silence filled the room until Sammy broke it so elegantly by near-shouting,

'Well that was awkward!'

'Sammy…,' I started, then fumbled my words a bit. 'You should…. you should know better than any of us that that's not appropriate right now.'

'Leave it, its fine,' Katie said through gritted teeth. 'Let's just go.'

And at that Tommy and Maria returned from their room and we set out to leave, Maria accompanying us, at least to the kitchen.

When we arrived at the makeshift jail – built out of an old train car without the wheel parts – that feeling came back again. For a second time today, I swept it from my thoughts and stepped through the doorway, the fortified metal door open in front of us. This train car was the pinnacle of the building team's prowess, in terms of conversion. Each compartment being a cell, with the – I always forget what to call it – conductor bit being an interview room. That was where we took the Fireflies, one at a time. I stayed outside while Tommy conducted the interview, the girls and I being on security, along with the usual jail guards, of course.

Alex's interview went off without a hitch. I picked up a few parts of the conversation inside that room. Tommy selecting which job for Alex - after deciding if he'd rehabilitated of course – reminded me of the Aptitude Test, from _Divergent_ , a book I picked up from an old library. Alex was sent to sit in the train's hallway, under our guard, until his father's interview was complete. Curious, I struck up a conversation.

'So, Alex, what'd Tommy pick for you?' I said in a sweet, high-pitched voice, trying to make him trust me. He _was_ a new member of this settlement of course. You simply cannot lie to Tommy.

'Look, little girl, just because I live here now doesn't mean I have to like you.' Alex replied bitterly, while Sammy snapped matter-of-factly at him,

'Yes, actually, it does. That's how this place works.'

'Hey, you didn't let me finish,' Alex said childishly. 'I was going to say "but I do"'. When he said this I threw up a little in my mouth. _This guy, this… young man with striking sandy hair tied back into a short ponytail, this guy with a weak beard on his chin reminiscent of a 14-year-old barely pubescent kid, this ex-Firefly…_ , I thought, finding myself liking him a little more every word. _This guy with eyes of the deepest blue, eyes that made you feel safe, eyes that said he was to be trusted…_ **No.** I snapped out of it once I realized what he was doing. _He's using charm to manipulate my trust, using his looks, his movie-star looks…_ **No.** _Damn this guy is good._

'Stop that.' I said once I'd relieved myself of that trance I was in, so to speak.

'Stop what?' Alex replied with the cutest damn guitarist surfer boy voice I'd heard in the movies Tommy sets up on projectors.

'Stop being so damn…'

'I believe attractive is the word you're looking for,' He correctly predicted, though I would never show it. 'I can see it in your eyes…'

'See what?' I said, dumbfounded.

'How… smitten you are.' He replied with the same guitarist surfer boy voice, making me again realize what he was doing.

'Stop it!' I said loudly, causing Sammy to start giggling.

'Ellie's got a cru-ush!' Sammy mocked me in a sing-song voice. This brought a smile even to Katie's face.

'No, I haven't!' I argued loudly, my face turning red with embarrassment while the 3 of them laughed madly.

'So… you kissed him yet?' Katie piped up as Tommy and Chris walked out of the interview room.

'Kissed who?' Tommy asked condescendingly.

'Her new boy-friend!' Sammy continued mocking me. This brought Tommy to laughter, giving Chris and opportunity to run. He bolted to the door and knocked down one of the guards outside as Tommy and I gave chase, leaving the girls to make sure Alex didn't try the same thing. Chris didn't get far, however, as he was struck in the leg by a hunting rifle bullet, causing him to fall flat on his face in the road. We all turned to see where the bullet had come from, and saw Maria standing at the end of the road, loading another bullet in the chamber of a hunting rifle.


	3. You and Me

The Last of Us: Endure and Unite

Chapter 3: You and Me

 **Alex's POV again! Sadly, it had to go back to this, I really enjoyed writing Ellie. You can tell, look at the words difference between Chapter 1 and 2! But, yay! Explicitism!**

She shot him. That bitch Maria. She shot Dad. He bled out. I bet those bastards didn't even want to save him. If I try and leave, I'm dead. If I manage to leave, the Fireflies would kill me for failing the mission, and for getting Dad killed. What was that thing Mom used to say? Grit your teeth and get through it? Fat lot of good it did her. Far as I know, she's still a clicker in Sacramento. I don't have a choice, though. Fit in or die. Sounds like a teen dystopia. I suppose that's what this is. My 17th was a couple weeks ago, but Dad seemed to forget. Or he didn't care. Wouldn't surprise me. He is - was – a Firefly. It's just hard to come to terms with. I'll just cling to what I have.

 _Ellie._

This morning I went to find her. The town is pretty small, actually. It's about 8 blocks, divided from the rest of the city with a large wooden fence that connects the town to the forest. She was going out hunting with Joel, so I tracked them down to join their little shooting trip. After about an hour of searching I saw _her_. Maria, leaving an unassuming house on one of the little streets in this repurposed town where people actually live. Behind the blond devil was Ellie. The angel in the apocalypse, the woman of the wasteland, this girl who is probably not that into me. Still, knowing what I was in for (and waiting for Maria to leave) I swallowed my pride and walked to their front door. I knocked with almost no confidence and got a yell from inside,

'Sammy?!' in response.

'No,' I yelled back. 'It's… It's Alex!'

I heard her footsteps stomp over to the door and she wrenched it open in my face.

'Come to try that charm shit again?'

'No... I... I... I heard…'

'What, Alex? You heard that you embarrassed me in front of my friends? You heard that Maria came over to confide in me because she never killed anyone before. She was scared, okay? You didn't make your stupid damn jokes…'

'No!' I replied defensively. 'I heard you haven't been getting much meat lately.'

'So?'

'So, I've come to join your hunting party. I'm a good shooter, a good hunter, and-'

'The answer is no.' She cut me off and slammed the door in my face. I, the master of impulsive decisions, knocked again. Before she could speak I said loudly in _her_ face,

'Can I speak to Joel please!?'

'Ellie!' A yell came from upstairs.

'What?' She yelled back.

'Let him up here!' I was surprised to hear this, and was half-expecting Joel to jump out and punch me in the face. Luckily, no. It wasn't a fist that found my face, but the butt of a pistol. I was already tensed so all I got was a broken nose. With blood dripping down my face, I put my hands up and yelled to Joel,

'Don't hurt me! I just want to hunt with you!' but it sounded more like 'Dobt hubt me! I jusd wand do hund wid you!'

Joel looked like he was remembering something, then tossed his gun aside. Grab your shit. We're going soon.

As we left the door I started talking with the pair.

'Joel, can I ask you something?' I said, carefully. Joel looked like he was about to be asked if he trusted me.

'What.' He replied gravelly, not happy that I was a necessity on this hunting trip.

'Got any ammo? I'm runnin' dry.'

He opened his backpack and thrust me a box of hunting rifle rounds.

'You know I ain't happy lettin' you have a gun,' Joel replied, trying to make conversation. An apprehensive conversation, but a conversation nonetheless. 'You try anything, you die.'

'I know that sir. Trust me, I won't try anything.'

With that Ellie piped up from her silence.

'We don't trust easy.'

'I get that, I just… If I'm going to fit in here, I've gotta be trusted.'

'Ex-fireflies have to prove themselves. Hell, everyone has to prove themselves.'

Joel took the reins of the conversation this time,

'Tell you what, Firefly. You prove you're as good at shooting as you say you are, we might just trust you a little more.'

'That… that sounds reasonable. It doesn't sound… like what I've heard of you. But I guess it's just how this place works.'

'Yep,' Ellie replied. 'Just how this place works.'

Once we'd arrived at the stables, it could be plainly seen that there were only two horses left. Joel was the only rider capable of carrying the rucksack we'd keep the meat in on the way back, so Ellie couldn't ride up with him.

'I don't approve of this,' Joel said, sounding like a parent from the 00's. 'But you and Ellie gotta double up.'

'What? No way!' Ellie protested.

'Got a better idea?' Joel snapped back. 'I ain't happy with it neither.'

Joel loaded up his horse with the rucksack and his pack, then climbed up onto the saddle. When it was our turn, Ellie quickly climbed up front. I usually preferred riding the front, but I didn't protest. It's better for my health to just do what they say.

After a long ride out into the forest we dismounted and set up a shooting position on top of a large rock. Ellie took a few shots at a buck in the distance and shot it right through the heart. Instinctively, I slid down the rock, ready to run out and get the skin.

'Hey!' Joel yelled down at me. 'You kill it, you skin it. Get back up here.' I walked round the rock and climbed the hill. As I reached the top Ellie gave me a high-pitched 'hmmph' and slid down the rock to skin her kill.

After a few failed attempts at bucks and a few successful attempts at rabbits, I stashed away my rifle.

'Ellie,' I asked quietly. 'Can I borrow that bow?'

'Sure. Be quick about it and don't stray.'

I did just that as I ventured out where they could still see me, then motioned for them to waste some ammo and fire at the ground in front of them. Their shots sent bucks running in my direction. I nailed three in total, collected my arrows, and then stripped them of their hide. When I returned to the rock, Joel and Ellie were quietly scoping out for any more. I dumped the skin and meat next to Joel, startling him. The smell of the meat had apparently attracted something else, too, as an almighty roar filled the air as we turned around to see a grizzly bear mauling one of the horses, chasing the other down a hill. In a flash, the bear turned to us and started running. Without thinking, I reached into Joel's pack, grabbed his shotgun and ran towards the bear, and without checking if the gun if was loaded, fired a shot from each barrel into the creature's head. I stepped out of the way to avoid its carcass falling forward and plunged my knife into its neck to make sure it was dead.

By the time Joel and Ellie had made their way over I'd already begun to skin the beast.

'Well. That's you proven then,' Joel said, surprised. 'Need a hand with that..?'

'Hate to ruin this moment,' Ellie spoke up. 'But it's getting dark and we've got no horses. It's a hell of a trek back, and who knows what's hiding in here.'

'I've got more shells,' Joel said gruffly, now aware of the situation. 'Sleep in shifts. When morning comes, we start trekkin'.'

It was first Joel's turn to stay up. I couldn't sleep anyway, but I was used to that. After an hour or so, I noticed Ellie was stirring. She got up and walked silently away from the makeshift camp. Joel was too fixated on checking the safety on the shotgun to notice. I followed the girl through the forest, until she came to a drop with a railing over it. There was a bench nearby, unused for years.

'So,' I said quietly, causing her to turn around. 'This used to be a nature walk?'

'Looks like it. Why'd you follow me out here?'

'Why'd you come out here?'

'Couldn't sleep. I needed to clear my head. To think about things.'

'I know the feeling. Can I ask what you're thinking of?'

'You,' she said quietly, catching me off guard. 'And how to feel that you saved my life.'

'It was nothing. If anything, I was saving my own.'

'No. No, it was something. It showed… it showed you could be trusted.'

'Trusted with what?' I replied with a mischievous voice.

'Just kiss me, asshole.'

And I did. Our lips locked and she held on, the feeling of massaging her tongue with mine was euphoric. She kept going, she was the aggressor now, forcing me onto the bench.

'Fuck me, Alex. Fuck me,' she said as she slipped her top off, exposing her breasts in my face. 'Just fuck me.'

I hurriedly took off my belt and threw it on the ground with one hand, using the other to start unzipping my jeans. She did the same, and I mounted her as she was bent over.

'No,' she said breathlessly. 'Not there. Joel would… Maria would…'

'Okay.' I said, understanding.

She pivoted around and placed my member in her mouth, her head rocking back and forth over my throbbing cock. Quickly, she changed her mind and said once more,

'Fuck me.'

She pushed me back down on the bench and climbed onto me, bouncing up and down, giving me a feeling I'd never felt before.

'Ellie… Get off…' I managed to say through an orgasm. Just in the nick of time, Ellie stood up and I blew my load all over her petite tits.

'Wow…,' she panted, dressing herself quickly 'That was… wow.'

'I know what you mean. Wow… Was that your… your first?'

With that she burst into tears, remembering a traumatic memory.

'Shhh…' I attempted to comfort her, holding her close and making her feel safe.

'There… there was this guy…' she said through tears. 'David… he… he…'

'It's okay... I understand.' I said softly.

We sat like that, on the bench for too long, as Joel came rushing out of the forest towards us. I really wish I'd pulled my pants up.

'What the fuck?!' He roared when he reached the path.

'Joel!' Ellie yelled defensively. 'Leave him alone. It… it was my idea.'

'Ellie… what the fuck? You didn't trust this guy a couple hours ago, and now,' He moved to lift up her top, exposing her semen-soaked skin. 'Now you're covered in his… baby gravy.'

'What can I say,' Ellie said, near-proudly. 'He proved himself. And, he _did_ save our lives.'

'Holy fuck…' Joel sighed, realizing that his baby girl wasn't much of a _baby_ girl anymore.

'Well,' I started, pulling my jeans up around myself. 'I suppose we should go.'

And we went, as the sun was rising in the sky, Ellie still ecstatic from her orgasm and Joel still disturbed at what he had saw. I was still feeling proud that I would now fit it. So long as Joel kept quiet about this… encounter.


End file.
